Would-be suicide bomber to be sentenced

CHICAGO (AP) — A federal judge in Chicago is scheduled to sentence a 28-year-old man for plotting to attend a Somalia training camp to become a suicide bomber for terrorist groups al-Qaida and al-Shabab.

Prosecutors have asked the judge to sentence Shaker Masri (SHAHK’-uhr MAHZ’-ree) on Tuesday to more than nine years in prison.

The Chicago man was arrested in 2010. He pleaded guilty in July to attempting to provide material support and resources to a terrorist organization.

He’d allegedly expressed admiration for U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki (ahn-WAHR’ al-aw-LAH’-kee). Al-Awlaki is believed to have inspired the Fort Hood, Texas, shootings and a failed Christmas bombing of a Detroit-bound jet. A U.S. drone attack killed al-Awlaki last year.

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Masri was born in Alabama and lived abroad before returning to the U.S. at age 18.